Rachel Chinouriri on opening for – and getting arrested by – Sabrina Carpenter

At the first of two Sabrina Carpenter concerts at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, the very last shows of the pop star’s ‘Short n' Sweet’ tour, Rachel Chinouriri was arrested. Not by the Swedish police, of course, but by Carpenter herself. Her offence? Being too beautiful. “I’m glad I got arrested yesterday, because today I’m not feeling as beautiful,” says Chinouriri when I call her up the following morning. “But yesterday, I’m not gonna lie, I was looking nice.”

The English singer-songwriter has been opening for Carpenter on the European leg of her ‘Short n’ Sweet’ tour, including her gigs in Copenhagen, Oslo and now Stockholm. Chinouriri has seen 18 Carpenter arrests (including the arrest of Spice Girl Emma Bunton at O2 in London). The gag consists of Carpenter handing the lucky perpetrator a set of pink fluffy handcuffs. “When Sabrina’s team was like, ‘OK, you’re getting arrested’, I was like, ‘Woo!’,” says Chinouriri. "…And then I ran backstage and redid my hair and everything.”

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Landing the coveted gig supporting one of the world’s biggest pop stars is just the latest in a slew of recent pinch-me moments for Chinouriri. First came the Brit Awards nominations – she scored nods for both Best New Artist and Artist of the Year – followed by a profile in British Vogue, capped off with an appearance on the Graham Norton show.

But nothing could prepare her for the shift that would come from touring with Carpenter. “I’ve doubled in monthly listeners since the start of this tour, which is crazy. I’ve gained like 30k on Instagram in like 30 days. It’s quite a mental amount,” she says. On previous tours, even when opening for Louis Tomlinson, she’s crashed at the hotel next to the arena and waltzed in the front door of the venue, but now, things have changed. She’s recognised, she’s photographed. “I’m remembering that things are shifting in a direction that I’ve wanted them to shift and to be grateful for it,” says Chinouriri, who’s been touching base with her therapist throughout the tour to stay grounded. “People are recognising me because they like my music and that’s a really positive thing and something I’ve worked really hard for.”

Related: 7 takeaways from Sabrina Carpenter’s first concert in Sweden

Opening for Carpenter, Chinouriri, an artist whose tracks range from eclectic ballads to upbeat indie pop to a certain alternative Britpop, tailored her set for the occasion. “When I toured with Lewis Capaldi, I would put more of my sadder, slower songs because I’m not expecting that crowd to be jumping and stuff,” she says. “But with Sabrina I was like, ‘OK, what are my most pop-ish songs?’” she says. Staples on the set list included 'Never Need Me' (the video for which features a cameo from Florence Pugh) and 'Can We Talk About Isaac'. “It’s just keeping the energy high. She has a huge age range at her shows, but what I really love is seeing the really young girls because I remember being 13 and going to gigs and the level of excitement you have. I just see it on my faces and it makes me so excited.”

For her stage looks, Chinouriri, who tends towards vintage and thrift store finds, leaned gently towards Carpenter’s corset-heavy boudoir aesthetic. Working with British stylist Shannon Kelsey Ann, Chinouriri developed a wardrobe that placed her in Carpenter’s ‘Short n’ Sweet’ world. “It’s just been making sure it’s really colourful, but maybe more pastel and then she grudges it up by putting on one glove or having black knee-high boots,” she says. “It’s mixing the sweet and the grunge together.” For her debut Stockholm show, Chinouriri wore a custom crochet skirt, paired with thrifted finds, including her signature leg warmers. “My thing is always a leg warmer because I’m a bit conscious of having small ankles, I don’t know why,” she says, laughing. “But I like dressing in this sort of high feminine, slightly sexy sort of way. It’s given me some inspiration for future stuff.”

On the day that we speak, Chinouriri has yet another reason to celebrate; her new EP, Little House, has just dropped to rave reviews. “The little house doesn’t exist – it’s in my imagination,” says Chinouriri when I ask about the origin of the title. “Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted a very small house by a creek or a lake with lots of land on the countryside. I’ve always thought I’d do that by myself, with some dogs.” The quiet fantasy is in stark contrast to the house she grew up in, in Croydon, Surrey, stuffed with eight people (Chinouriri, the youngest, is the only of her siblings to pursue music).

After meeting her partner, Isaac (yes, like the song), Chinouriri’s fantasy shifted. “When I met my partner, I realised there was maybe a level of love I had stopped myself from having because I was so scared of being heartbroken,” she says. “But now I’m in a position where I love my partner to the core but I’m also so in love with myself and being by myself, no matter what happens with this boy who is the love of my life currently – even if we broke up and I was heartbroken – I’d still be fine. And now I feel like Isaac is my little house.”

All of these successes have firmly placed Chinouriri in the thriving landscape of powerful pop and indie pop voices. It’s a crowd that includes Carpenter alongside fellow Brit Charli XCX and Chappell Roan. “I’m on this big campaign of making sure that Black and POC women are included in those spaces,” says Chinouriri, who famously declared herself an indie pop artist at a time when her music was being inaccurately characterised as soul or RnB. “Seeing Charli XCX bringing people like Shygirl to her shows and speaking a lot about SOPHIE, who was a trans woman – seeing her elevate women like that was inspiring,” says Chinouriri.

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The same goes for Carpenter, who, in addition to Chinouriri, has invited Amber Mark, Ravyn Lanea and Olivia Dean on her tour. “I never would have thought that I would have been able to open for Sabrina Carpenter at all, which is really sad,” says Chinouriri. “But it’s inspiring to see not just the girls doing well, but the girls taking up all the other people – queer women, people of colour – it’s inspiring to see everyone being able to have a chance.”

The ‘Short n’ Sweet’ tour wraps up tonight, at which point Chinouriri will jet off to Paris for a work obligation. A couple weeks later she starts her own US tour. “I’m gonna do everything with my whole heart, because this is a life I wanted to feel and experience,” she says. “What a privilege and a beautiful thing that my job and my music has taken me to be able to do so many cool things.”

Meanwhile, Chinouriri leaves the ‘Short n’ Sweet’ tour with an excellent souvenir: those pink handcuffs. “They’re in my suitcase, so they’re not getting them back,” she says. “I’m keeping them. That’s why I was arrested – I’m a thief.”